International Home Show Info

Even though many of you are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, you may find some time to visit the largest Home Show in Canada. If you are planning on updating or renovating your home in the near future, there will be 250,000 sq.ft. of home improvement products and services along with many ECOnomical home shopping ideas too!

Toronto International Centre
6900 Airport Rd. – North of the Airport at Derry (FREE Parking)

Friday October 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday October 11 from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday October 12 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Monday October 13 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Tickets:

$14.00 for Adults
$10.00 for Seniors and Children Ages 9-18
FREE for Children 8 and under

Website: http://www.home-show.net/homeshow/index.htm

Ontario Residential Property Taxpayers Will See Average Assessment Increase of Approximately 5% in 2009

Assessment value of properties will be increasing but this doesn't necessarily mean that your property taxes will too!

Read below to find out how this may impact your real estate!

Bess

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assessment Ontario

September 17, 2008

Market increases in values since 2005 will be phased in over the next four years with new provincial policy as mailing of Property Assessment Notices for Ontario’s nearly 4.7 million properties begins.

Pickering, Ontario, September 17, 2008 – Ontario property taxpayers will see an average assessment increase of five per cent in 2009 with a four-year phase-in introduced by the Provincial Government to add stability and predictability to the assessment process.

“Residential property values have increased by an average of approximately 20 per cent across Ontario since 2005, when the last assessment update was done. Because of the four-year phase-in, property taxpayers will see an average assessment increase of five per cent next year,” Carl Isenburg, President and Chief Administrative Officer of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), said.

An increase in assessment does not necessarily mean an increase in property taxes. If the assessed value of a home has increased by the same percentage as the average in the municipality, there might be no increase in the property taxes paid by a property taxpayer.

The phase-in program does not apply to decreases in assessed value. The full amount of a decrease will be applied during the 2009 tax year.

“Our values are based on actual sales and trends in real estate markets across the province,” Isenburg said. Municipalities establish tax rates that are applied to assessed values to pay for local services and the Provincial Government sets rates for the education portion of the tax.

Property Assessment Notices will begin arriving in the homes of property taxpayers this week.

“We have made a number of changes to improve customer service and to provide property taxpayers with more information so they can decide if their assessment is accurate,” Isenburg said. The changes include:

1) Redesigning the Property Assessment Notice to make it easier to understand and provide more information, including the assessed value of a property for each of the next four tax years; and
2) Online videos explaining how MPAC assesses property and how to resolve assessment concerns on the MPAC website at http://www.mpac.ca/.

“MPAC’s role is to assess property accurately. If we don’t have the right information about a property or if a property taxpayer feels that his or her property would not have sold for its assessed value as of January 1, 2008, we want them to call us. If a mistake has been made, we’ll fix it,” Isenburg said.

Hours will be extended at each of MPAC’s 33 local offices across the province during the Notice mailing period this fall, as was done in 2005. Property taxpayers can also call MPAC’s Customer Contact Centre, which can be reached toll-free at 1 866 296-MPAC (6722).

“We have almost 500 customer service representatives across the province who will be available to answer questions or deal with concerns,” Isenburg said, adding:

“We strive for accuracy, but when you assess nearly 4.7 million properties, errors can be made. If any property taxpayer has a question or concern, we want them to call us or visit one of our local offices. We are committed to working with property taxpayers to make sure that their assessment is correct.”

For more information, please call:
Michael Jacoby, Director, Communications,
Municipal Property Assessment Corporation,
(905) 837-4209

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THE NEW PROPERTY ASSESSMENT NOTICE BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) has improved the 2008 Property Assessment Notice to make it easier to read and understand. This year’s Property Assessment Notice will include:

1) The assessed value of the property for each of the next four tax years;
2) The percentage by which the property has increased or decreased in value since the last assessment update in 2005 and the average percentage by which properties across the municipality have changed in value. If the assessed value of the property has changed by the same or a lower percentage than values in the municipality as a whole, property taxes may not increase;
3) A history of past adjustments, if any, made by MPAC through the Request for Reconsideration process or the Assessment Review Board to the assessed value of the property and whether these are reflected in the current assessment;
4) Details about the property including lot size, square footage, and year of construction used by MPAC to help determine the assessed value of a property;
5) A User ID and Password that can be used to access AboutMyProperty™;
6) The address of the nearest MPAC local office where questions can be answered and concerns addressed in person; and
7) The toll-free phone number for MPAC’s Customer Contact Centre.

Property Assessment Notices will be mailed for Ontario’s nearly 4.7 million properties in 2008.

Mailed with the Property Assessment Notice will be:

1) A brochure explaining how property owners can determine if their assessment is accurate and, if they feel it is not, what options are available to have it corrected; and
2) A brochure describing the new Ontario Senior Homeowners’ Property Tax Grant to help eligible senior homeowners with low and moderate incomes pay their property taxes.

An interactive Property Assessment Notice with details on each section has been posted on the MPAC website at www.mpac.ca

For more information, please call:
Michael Jacoby, Director, Communications,
Municipal Property Assessment Corporation,
(905) 837-4209

Energy efficient renovations offer good return on investment

When renovating your home, kitchens and bathrooms have always been the 2 rooms in the house that offer the best return and when you make them energy efficient, it's all the better! Now a days buyers are becoming more concerned with how efficient the house is, better for the enviroment and lower on costs. So next time you're thinking of renovating your home, make sure you consider using energy efficient appliances and systems. There are plenty of them to choose from and many offer rebates from the government.

Bess
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REALTORS® are often asked to suggest improvements that will make their clients’ homes more saleable and provide the biggest return on investment (ROI). Kitchen and bathroom upgrades still offer some of the best ROI. But now, according to the 2008 Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC) RENOVA survey, energy-efficiency upgrades are high on the list of top paybacks.

Every other year, AIC surveys its members and compiles a list of renovations that, in the opinion of professional appraisers, yield the highest recovery rate. The recovery rate is defined as the likely increase in a home’s resale value which could be attributed to a renovation as a proportion of the cost of the renovation. For example, if a $10,000 renovation increases the home’s value by $6,000 then the recovery rate is 60 per cent.

Refurbished kitchens and bathrooms can typically bring in around 75 to 100 per cent of the investment at resale, provided the renovations are professional and tasteful. “If renovating in order to sell, homeowners must plan for changes that will meet the needs of a majority of potential buyers,” says Joanne Charlebois, AIC’s Director, Marketing and Communications. “They also need to ensure any modifications reflect current market trends.”

Since energy savings are on the minds of most consumers, this year’s survey asked respondents to rate five energy-efficient upgrades in terms of their influence on the resale value of a home. Green renovations were cited most frequently by respondents as having an average recovery rate of 61 per cent. High efficiency windows received the highest level of agreement among respondents as the energy-saving home improvement that would have a significant positive impact on the appraised value of a home. The type of heating system, heating system efficiency and insulation were also considered to make a significant difference. Efficient hot water heaters, on the other hand, were judged to have only minimal influence on a home’s resale value.

Several other improvements were identified as having higher recovery rates including using neutral paint colours (67 per cent), the addition of a cooking island in the kitchen (65 per cent), and installing a Jacuzzi or whirlpool bath separate from the shower stall (64 per cent). Spa-style shower systems were cited as being very popular upgrades. However, while stylish and trendy, their recovery rate is a relatively low 36 per cent. Not surprisingly, adding a swimming pool also scored very low in terms of ROI. In fact, the addition of a pool, hot tub or skylights were not only considered to contribute very little to the resale price of a home, in some cases they could even have a negative effect.

According to AIC, homeowners who are thinking about making home improvements should consider the following tips taken from the 2008 survey responses:

Renovations that add features to a home that other homes in the neighbourhood already have such as a second bathroom have a higher recovery rate than features not shared by neighbouring properties.

Renovations done on a home with a lower market value than the others in the neighbourhood provide a higher recovery rate than renovations done on a home which is worth more than neighbouring properties.

Poorly done renovations may have no positive effect, or worse, actually reduce the value of a home.

Ensuring that a home is in good repair and well maintained is essential. However, renovations done on a home which has maintenance problems will have a much less bearing on its resale price.

The Resource Center page of AIC’s RENOVA Web site, www.aicanada.ca, offers a calculator to help home renovators get a better idea of the ROI they can expect for a variety of home improvement projects. The site shows a payback range in dollars and as a percentage of what you plan to pay for the upgrade. Homeowners can choose from among the 20 most popular home improvements.

Get out what you put in
Here’s what homeowners can expect to get back at resale for the most common home improvements, according to AIC:

Home upgrade
ROI (%)

Kitchen upgrade
75 – 100

Bathroom upgrade
75 – 100

Interior painting
50 – 100

Roof replacement
50 – 80

Replacement of furnace or heating system
50 – 80

Expansion (addition of family room)
50 – 75

Doors and windows
50 – 75

Adding a deck
50 – 75

Install hardwood floor
50 – 75

Adding a garage
50 – 75